CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0065, 09/06/2008

Title/Description: Google's New Web Browser, South Korea vs. Bloggers

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 65, recorded September 6th, 2008. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - Google's New Web Browser

There's no mistaking what is the biggest story of this week. Google has released its own Web browser: Chrome. Chrome is offered as a free download from www.google.com/chrome and will compete head-to-head with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and other lesser known browsers. In its first day, Chrome managed to take one percent of the browser market, which is significant considering the size of the market. Chrome has a different approach to Web browsing that treats the Web browser window more like a computer desktop with Web applications running independently in multiple tabs. Some analysts are speculating that Chrome is Google's first move towards competition with Microsoft Windows. Most reviews of Chrome are finding the browser much faster than its competition when running Web-based applications. Chrome is in its initial Beta release, and includes some bugs and security flaws that Google is working to correct. If Chrome is successful it will give Google a big advantage among the big tech companies, providing it with direct control over the Web browsing experience, and the associated advertising space.

Sources: Chrome is Fast, But Not That Fast [WebMonkey], Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Web [Wired], Google Takes On IE, Firefox With Chrome Web Browser [WebMonkey], Google sees new browser displacing desktop software [Reuters], Google's Chrome Grabs Market, But It's Not Finished [NewsFactor], Chrome Eliminates Google's Middleman Problems [Wired]

Story 2 - South Korea vs. Bloggers

South Korea is considered one of the most wired countries in the world. Automation and wireless networks monitor and assist in nearly all public spaces. Over seventy percent of South Koreans are connected to the Internet utilizing the world fastest connections. The highly connected nature of South Korean culture assisted Lee Myung-bak in winning the last presidential election. The same culture is giving his new government a run for its money.

South Koreans unhappy with Lee Myung-bak policies are taking to citizen journalism to publish anti-government news stories of questionable legitimacy. Some of these stories are sparking panic among the public which have led to mass protests clogging the streets of Seoul in recent months. One story claimed that the government was knowingly serving beef tainted with mad cow disease to school children. Another claimed that South Koreans are more prone to catching the disease.

The government is calling these online fabrications "infodemics," and is taking measures to put a stop to them. Bloggers are complaining that only journalists that write positive articles about the government are being provided with access to government information. There is a fear that new laws will be imposed that regulate online news sources, and allow only news with proven sources and journalistic integrity to be published. Citizens are concerned that they are losing their right to free speech. The situation provides interesting fuel for debate. Should misinformation on the Internet be corrected? By whom? What if the misinformation serves as a danger to the public? These questions are bound to emerge in many countries other than South Korea in coming years. Censorship is a complicated and serious issue that all Internet users need to consider.

Sources: Bruised S.Korean government takes on "infodemics [Reuters], South Korea braced for web clampdown [Guardian.co.uk],

And that brings us to News Briefs.

§          Beginning October 1st, Comcast will cap Internet usage for its customers at 250 GB of data per month. [Wired]

§          Sony has recalled 438,000 Vaio laptops that are in danger of overheating and causing burns. [Reuters]

§          Electronic Arts has finally released Spore, a long awaited video game that takes the gamer through the evolutionary process from a single-celled organism to intergalactic explorer. [Reuters]

§          Apple is expected to unveil new iPod designs and maybe more at Tuesday's "Let's Rock" publicity event. [Reuters]

§          Dell is coming out with a netbook called the Inspiron Mini 9 - it's an ultra-small notebook computer, with built-in mobile broadband from Vodafone. It is likely that Dell's netbook will be packaged with cellular data plans like a cell phone. [PC World]

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. E-mail us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!