Chrome -- Google's very own web browser

[Eric Pettifor]

Google has released a beta for Windows of their own Chrome web browser.

Do we really need another web browser? Windows users have one that comes with the OS, smart surfers have Firefox, there's Safari on the Mac, the brilliant but perptually underappreciated Opera, KDE with its Konqueror browser, and there are more besides.

In an illustrated online document Google makes a very cogent argument that yes, at this point in the development of the web we need a browser which is designed from the ground up to answer today's challenges. All of the other browsers out there are products of evolution, born in a simpler time, a time before tabs, a time before javascript was used not only to check forms but to juggle dynamic content, a time before the forces of evil concentrated great effort on subverting your browser for their own economic benefit.

It's actually worth at least skimming through. They've managed to express technical issues in clear language that even a non-geek should be able to mostly understand. Ok, the section on the javascript vm, garbage collection, and pointer management may be a bit dense, but if you've ever wondered why when one page in one tab screws up it takes down the whole browser, you'll find the answer here, as well as the solution Google has incorporated into Chrome to deal with it. Interesting stuff.

[Eric Pettifor]

Google tweaks Chrome licence text

[Eric Pettifor]

Ah, I wondered about your casual disregard for providing intelligence about yourself to your enemies, and hadn't considered the potential for disinformation. Cunning.

[Frank Moher]

Yes, I expect your take is right. I do believe anything one uploads to Facebook becomes their property. Of course, I only upload info I want the CIA to know.

[Eric Pettifor]

There is a slashdot story discussing the fine print. I get the impression that part of the problem is Google using boilerplate for everything, and that boilerplate was written primarily for services which is what Google mostly provides.

Have you checked out Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube licenses? I wouldn't be surprised if there was wording that was similarly broad.

[Frank Moher]

My son says something like: Google owns anything you upload to, say, a blog using its browser. Could this possibly be true?

By the way, a browser I really like is Flock, which allows you to access your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. accounts in a sidebar, along with the usual browser functions.