Google have succesfully released their new web browser to beta. Named Chrome, this browser offers intuitive new twists to web browsing, tab management, window management, as well as enhancements to security and performance. It utilizes the power of web kit, the javascript virtual machine V8, as well as features such as incognito windows (privacy mode) and “sandboxing” to limit the access of the browser and it’s features to protect from web sites accessing your computer unwantedly. More info, links and pics after the break…

The original news of the browser came about at this site, which also included a link to a scanned and uploaded comic, that explains the browser’s new features in a somewhat less techy and more user-friendly way.

The browser can be downloaded from http://google.com/chrome and installation is a breeze.

Could this be a Firefox replacement!?!?!? I just did the ACID browser rendering test at http://acid3.acidtests.org and Google’s new browser received a 76/100. A modest 5 point lead ahead of the current leader, Firefox 3.

The Browser is currently version 0.2.149.27 build 1583 and for all the devs out there, the user agent reports as:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/0.2.149.27 Safari/525.13 

Pictures:

Ok, as it seems that apple are having some network issues (on their download page, you get timeout errors), due to the recent release of iTunes 7.7, I thought I’d upload the setup exe to allow people to download the Xp/Vista 32-bit version (Don’t have the others, sorry).

Edit: 8.0 has just been released, so I have uploaded that too.

The files are located here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/128684562/iTunesSetup.exe.html (7.7)

http://rapidshare.com/files/144907764/iTunes8Setup.exe (8.0)

Enjoy!

So as midnight hit yesterday, I downloaded the new Panic at the Disco album, Pretty. Odd. to my iPod, from iTunes, and had a listen through. At first I was a little skeptical, because the new album was very different from the first and I wasn’t completely sure I was liking what I was hearing.

I then played it through for a second time, and started to appreciate the style for what it was, instead of thinking how different it was to the first album. I really started to enjoy it by the second time, and the third time over I’d worked out which were my favourite songs. “We’re so Starving”, “Nine in the Afternoon” and “Mad as Rabbits” are probably the three best, but all of the songs have their own unique and quirky style. There are a number of instrumental mixes and genres, including folk and even what sounds like a renaissance-esque piece.

Listening to the lyrics, the band seem to make an emphasis on how they’ve changed from the previous album to this one; how “things are shaping up to be pretty odd” but reassure hardcore fans that “they are still the same band” and “Things have changed” “and that’s ok”. Overall, it took a little getting used to, but I’ve listened to the album 5 times through and I still love it.

In Uni news, my Blackjack application is going steadily; about 20-25% through so far, although the skeleton is pretty much there, the program needs its organs and body. The OOP assignment has its classes laid out – I wrote out a rough class diagram so I know where most of the stuff is going – It’s now a case of documenting all the design, turning that in to code and then applying a UI to the code. RAS assignment is also slow, but Jason and I have started so that’s a plus. Same can’t be said for the MSP assignment, although that is starting tomorrow and hopefully will be done by latest Wednesday. It doesn’t help that Matt and I only have a group of 2 out of a minimum 4 *sigh*, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem. We’ll focus on doing the assignment first, and worry about technicalities later.

As you can tell, I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing a post a day, whatever it may be about. I’ll probably start posting things I find. The following for example:

The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season.
The five-year deal for an undisclosed fee marks F1’s return to BBC screens 12 years after it switched to ITV.

The contract covers all platforms and will see F1 broadcast on the BBC Sport website, as well as on TV and radio.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he was “delighted”, adding: “The BBC has some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base.”

Read More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7306123.stm

Now for F1 fans, this is an epic turn of events, as it means no more interruptions with crappy ad breaks and stupid, noisy and unwanted Sony sponsor messages. Just pure, untainted F1 entertainment on a Saturday and Sunday. Commentators are going to have to work harder though, as this adds a good 10-20 minutes worth of extra yapping time. Let’s just hope this doesn’t fluff up in some awful way. God help us if BBC is bought out by SKY (>_<)