Google is a name synonymous with bettering someone else’s idea. But we should certainly not be the ones complaining, as they steam roll the competition they continue provide us with more user-friendly and lets not forget ‘free’ services and applications.

A new Google service, dubbed “Knol,” is set to compete with the Web’s largest data base of reference work, Wikipedia. The firm revealed that the new website project will invite individuals to write “authoritative articles” on their areas of expertise.Google hopes that Knol (the name derived from “knowledge”) articles will cover “all topics, from scientific concepts … to entertainment.”Significantly, the project will see Google help generate new editorial content, a process its executive have previously said it is “philosophically opposed to.”In a Google blog posted last month, Udi Manber, Vice President of Engineering wrote,

“The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors. Books have authors’ names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors — but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content”

As on Wikipedia, the content will be free to access. However, one major difference is that Knol’s authors will be able to attach advertising to their work and take a share of revenues.

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Google are always up to something, and we could dedicate a whole blog to them if we simply had the time on our hands! In what seems to be their never ending quest to take over the Information Technology World they have announced yet another FREE application, language translations for the Google Talk chat client.

Using the same technology as, the translation application is delivered as a series of chat bots. These tools can quickly translate a phrase or paragraph for you, and they can also be added to group chats to act as real-time translators.Google lists out about 30 total language bots with which are all logically named according to their translation duty, such as en2ko@bot.talk.google.com, signifying English to Korean translation. English is the dominant language across the translations; however there are some non-English bots available such as fr2de.

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Photoshop has clearly become the industry standard software for graphic design and digital photography. Those of you who are Photoshop savvy will know that plug-ins and filters can extend Photoshop capabilities by providing new functions and effects. For those of you who aren’t, perhaps its time to explore Photoshop’s expandable features.

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Many are still hesitant to upgrade to the new Windows Vista, perhaps the negative buzz and the massive system requirements have made Vista less desirable than Microsoft had hoped. Vista promised to integrate not only a 3D-interface or other exciting technologies but also a new file system, called WinFS, as well as the communication subsystem Indigo. Unfortunately the release of the WinFS File system has been postponed and Indigo is now available for Windows XP, so some may be asking why they would want to upgrade to Vista at all? Well, Microsoft has promised that there will be huge steps toward a secure environment which is virtually impossible to integrate into today’s Windows XP.

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This 360-degree ultra-high-definition military simulator allows you to drive a Humvee and fire real weapons including machine guns and rocket launchers, anywhere you want, with absolute precision.

The 10-projector system achieves a seamless panorama thanks to Mersive’s Sol system; a calibration, warping and sub-pixel image blending technology that may soon be adapted from military sims to your living room gaming.

Watch The Video and check the Halo 3-like scenario

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Hackers are getting assistance from a female stripper by the name of Mellisa. She is a digital girl that is helping spammer hack a security measure that has helped slow the spamming community.

To help solve the mystery and security behind Captcha text images, the spammers enlisted the help of Mellisa. By inserting and deciphering the text, users get to see explicit images. Seems like a fair enough trade-off. In the past many viruses have tricked people into opening booby-trapped attachments with the false promise of seeing explicit images, but this was one of the first to actually show people more images if people respond.

This software by Trend Micro and Panda Security that is helping to defeat the anti-spam security check is a Windows game that arrives on machines that are already infected with malicious software. The program comes to life when the Internet Explorer browser is used on infected machines. The Captcha-busting program can run on Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, and Server 2003. You win (getting to see the explicit image) by correctly typing the text shown in an accompanying image. This seems like an easy enough game with great rewards. The creators of the game in turn take the deciphered text that stop spam robots from automatically signing up to create accounts that can be put to illegal use. By getting people to type in the text the spammers can are also able to take over the accounts and use them to send junk mail.

This online anti-spam security measure of using a image of text is known as Captchas or “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. Typically they feature a disfigured word or one overlaid with static that make it difficult for anyone but a human to decipher.

Since its fist arrival, many spammers and hackers have been vigorously working to defeat the system and regaining acess to net-based resources, such as e-mail accounts or blogging tools, they are designed to protect. Although this game seems like a bunch of fun and gaining popularity, it is likely to increase the annoyance of spam and weaken our hold in the War on Spam.

Quickly gaining popularity and taking back the web, Firefox is lighting up the internet with personalize browsing that is safer, faster and more powerful. When Firefox first emerged not many expected much since there were already other browsers, like Netscape, Opera, and Eudora, that had been out for a long time already and were no where near being as popular as Internet Explorer. This has caused Microsoft to start paying attention and listening to the users - but still falling short in keeping users loyal. Microsoft is synonymous with closed-code with only Microsoft add-ons at Microsoft prices.

For those of you who are not familiar with Firefox, prepared to be awaken to the revolution taking place on the web and quickly become converted to a Mozilla Firefox user.

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Talks of a phone from Google dubbed the Gphone, have recently been causing a stir on the World Wide Web. There are articles mentioning deals between certain high profile companies with expected release dates and even articles from people claiming they have already seen prototypes. Whether or not we can believe everything we read, Google are on the up and up so a move into the wireless industry is not out of character.

There have been a few reports that Google are making a big push in the development of their own handset. High Tech Computers, a Taiwan-based smart phone maker are rumored to be designing the Linux device which is said to incorporate a Texas Instruments edge chipset. There have been a number of specifications listed in these reports and if all of this turns out to be true, Google may revolutionize the way we use our cell phones.

Reports suggest we can expect a handset that provides Wi-Fi, 3-G and GPS capability, a user friendly browser such as Linux or possibly one designed by Google, access to VoIP, Gtalk or even Skype, a 2 Megapixel Camera, Mp3, a predictive Qwerty Keyboard and of course, a large color screen.

The Gphone is apparently scheduled for release early 2008, with T-Mobile and Orange tipped to be providing services it may seem like everything is almost decided. If Google can come up with a handset that can incorporate all these features then they really will have a rival to the Apple iPhone.

The iPhone is a great device and certainly did take mobile technology to the next level; however some felt it did not quite live up to the hype. All this talk of the Gphone is setting the stage for something really spectacular but with no sign of any official concept designs, it is difficult to really predict what is on the companies mind.

Note: All images are Unofficial Concept Sketches; designs are artist impressions of what the Gphone may look like.

The release of Google Docs and Spreadsheets, the highly anticipated free office suite application available through the internet by download, threatens to topple Microsoft’s dominant position as the leader in desktop software offering services delivered over the Web supported by advertising and/or subscriptions. So much so that Microsoft set to the drawing board and immediately began developing a rival project.

Tip: Be sure to check out the link at the end of this article for a link to a listing of various free and open source software programs for download that is having the executives at Microsoft shaking in their boots and thinking about ways to counter this!

The aim is to offer a free version of Microsoft Works which will be pre installed in desktops and will display advertisements stored in cache, the advertisements that help support the application will be refreshed when the computer establishes an internet connection.

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Storage and disk space have always been a problem since computers were first invented. Organizing files, creating compilation music CDs, cataloging your movie collection, and backing up your files that you hope will be available when you need them; all consume large amounts of your vital virtual reality. Now if that wasn’t enough, after we have gone through all the trouble of moving all these files around, we have to make sure we bring the right CD or thumb drive at the time they are needed. Being randomly deployed and stationed at various bases has only added to the trouble. Thanks to the advancement of fast internet, there is actually a solution that helps organize your files and have all your files at a moments notice known as online storage.

Some sites require you to login and access the files. However, if you really wanted to do this correctly you would create a network drive to a dedicated server, so all you had to do a was click an icon to access the folders. But this requires a lot of money to make sure you have good server with a fast connection and that was very secure and maintained properly. Well with IBackUp all of your storage needs are finally resolved and you have the ability to secure personal data online while having the ability to access your files easily anywhere!

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If you spend alot of your time using the internet for work or pleasure, you’ll know computer virus’s and spyware are at constant battle with your anti-virus software, even downloading tool bars or add-ons can be a pain to get rid of if you decide not to keep them. Enter Sandboxie, a great piece of free software that not only protects your systems drive but allows you to completely delete anything you have installed or added to you PC with a click of the mouse.

In computer security, a sandbox is a security mechanism for safely running programs, hence the name sandboxie, a sandbox provides a tightly-controlled set of resources for guest programs to run in, such as scratchspace on disk and memory. Sandboxie incorporates this technology by creating a sandbox as a temporary drive for all data transferal.

When you run a program on your computer, data flows from the hard disk to the program via read operations. The data is then processed and displayed, and finally flows back from the program to the hard disk via write operations. With Sandboxie running all data is intercepted in the sandbox, data then flows in both directions between the program and the sand box, leaving your permanent drive free from read and write operations.

Sandboxie intercepts all changes to both your files and registry settings, making it virtually impossible for any software to reach outside the sandbox. Even browser items are intercepted, so when you throw away the sandbox, all the history records and other side-effects of your browsing disappear as well.

This great piece of software is free so trying it out should not be a problem, however if you find it makes your Web experience that much safer, you are encouraged to register the program for a small fee.