Google Chrome

[Mike]

Google has just released a beta version of the new Google Chrome Web browser. Whilst it is still in beta, it seems to be stable. And it is fast. You Internet Exploder guys will want to stay away from this one, as it will be scary fast for you.

Page loads are significantly faster than Firefox or Opera, so it might be a keeper.

Sheesh, just what I needed - another browser.

[T-Odd]

I'm typing this message in Chrome.

Not saying I'll use it more than Firefox, I do love my add-ons that don't seem to be available for this browser yet but it does seem to work fine.

I'm off to install in Mac OS 10.5.4 now.

[GT63]

You might want to take a gander at this article. Google's ULA is filled with little gotcha's.

Be sure to read Chrome's fine print | Software news, tips and opinions from Download.com editors - Download.com

[Webmaster]

GT, if that list prevents you from using a piece of software, then you need to shut down your computer, take it to your garage, smash it into as many pieces as you can possibly make, then melt it down. And no, I'm not joking.

Every time you use a search engine, you are being logged, as is the search you've requested. And whether or not you've visited a linked site, as a result of that search.

Here are just some of the metrics that I receive from this site on a daily basis from my Google Analytics account.

Total visits made to the site, every 24 hours
Total unique visits made to the site, every 24 hours
Total number of pageviews, every 24 hours
The average time spent on the site, by all users in a 24 hour period
The bounce rate, or the number of visitors that leave the site after viewing only one page
Visitor loyalty percentages, based over the last 30 days (how many times have you visited)
Visitor recency over the last 30 days (how long since you've visited)
Depth of visit (how many pages did you view while here)
What Web browser are you using
What computer operating system are you using
What screen color setup are you using
What screen resolution are you using
What version of Flash are you running
Are you supporting Java
What network you're on
What is the hostname
What connection speed are you running
Did you arrive direct to the site (either from entering the URL or from a bookmark)
Did you arrive from a link on another site
If yes, what site did you arrive from
Did you arrive from a search engine
If yes, what search term did you use to find us

This are just some of the numbers Google is reporting to me and that I record on a daily basis. What other data do you think they are storing and not sharing with me?

(And when I use the term "you", I don't mean Google reports on you specifically, rather the numbers are overall numbers for the site.)

While you're destroying that computer, you better add your cellphone and any credit cards, store discount cards and library cards you may have. Trust me, Big Brother has been watching, for quite some time.

[GT63]

Originally Posted by Webmaster

GT, if that list prevents you from using a piece of software, then you need to shut down your computer, take it to your garage, smash it into as many pieces as you can possibly make, then melt it down. And no, I'm not joking.

Every time you use a search engine, you are being logged, as is the search you've requested. And whether or not you've visited a linked site, as a result of that search.

Here are just some of the metrics that I receive from this site on a daily basis from my Google Analytics account.

Total visits made to the site, every 24 hours
Total unique visits made to the site, every 24 hours
Total number of pageviews, every 24 hours
The average time spent on the site, by all users in a 24 hour period
The bounce rate, or the number of visitors that leave the site after viewing only one page
Visitor loyalty percentages, based over the last 30 days (how many times have you visited)
Visitor recency over the last 30 days (how long since you've visited)
Depth of visit (how many pages did you view while here)
What Web browser are you using
What computer operating system are you using
What screen color setup are you using
What screen resolution are you using
What version of Flash are you running
Are you supporting Java
What network you're on
What is the hostname
What connection speed are you running
Did you arrive direct to the site (either from entering the URL or from a bookmark)
Did you arrive from a link on another site
If yes, what site did you arrive from
Did you arrive from a search engine
If yes, what search term did you use to find us

This are just some of the numbers Google is reporting to me and that I record on a daily basis. What other data do you think they are storing and not sharing with me?

(And when I use the term "you", I don't mean Google reports on you specifically, rather the numbers are overall numbers for the site.)

While you're destroying that computer, you better add your cellphone and any credit cards, store discount cards and library cards you may have. Trust me, Big Brother has been watching, for quite some time.

I know all about tracking, I used to do Web analytics for the Intranet here at Verizon. I am very aware of what's being reported. Try going into your browser settings and set it to prompt you every time before a cookie is stored on your computer.

I'm no rookie when it comes to computers.

We spend alot of time trying to secure our systems within Verizon and there are some concerns about Google's Chrome. Most folks skip right by the ULA and never read the fine print.

[T-Odd]

Firefox + NoScript will show you just how much crap is on each webpage. I use it all day everyday.

On the Windoze computers I run Ghostzilla, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Opera... and occasionally an Internot Exploder page.

The Mac 10.4 has Safari and Firefox as does my MAc OS 10.5.

I'm playing with Chrome on my XP box but it's not available for Mac OS (big surprise there huh?).

My Firefox is loaded with all the plug ins I need; NoScript, Farkit, PDF Download, AVG Safe Search, DownloadHelper and Rewind/FastForward Buttons.

So far I like the look and feel of Chrome and I'm wondering just how long until all my favorite Add Ons for Firefox get ported to Chrome.

[Mike]

With respect to the EULA associated with Google Chrome, the following comes from Official Google Blog: Update to Google Chrome's terms of service

You'll notice if you look at our other products that many of them are governed by Section 11 of our Universal Terms of Service. This section is included because, under copyright law, Google needs what's called a "license" to display or transmit content. So to show a blog, we ask the user to give us a license to the blog's content. (The same goes for any other service where users can create content.) But in all these cases, the license is limited to providing the service. In Gmail, for example, the terms specifically disclaim our ownership right to Gmail content.

So for Google Chrome, only the first sentence of Section 11 should have applied. We're sorry we overlooked this, but we've fixed it now, and you can read the updated Google Chrome terms of service. If you're into the fine print, here's the revised text of Section 11:

11. Content license from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.

And that's all. Period. End of section.

It will take a little time to propagate this change through the 40+ languages in which Google Chrome is available, and to remove the language in the download versions. But rest assured that we're working quickly to fix this. The new terms will of course be retroactive, and will cover everyone who has downloaded Google Chrome since it was launched.

The EULA bogeyman has been banished.

[Yogi]

I put it on my XP machine at work, looks clean, faster than IE and maybe faster than FireFox. Just waiting on some of the add-ons especially the IE rendering engine.

[Mike]

I like that Chrome is standards compliant, too.

Acid2 Browser Test - The Web Standards Project

I've not played with IE8 yet. Anyone using it that has tried the above test?

[GT63]

Chrome is using the WebKit rendering engine, the same one Safari uses. It also uses the V8 JIT compiler for Javascript. The Gears portion of the browser uses Canvas for Flash and other media rendering.

In just some initial testing, we have found a few CSS issues, especially with tables.