Stories by: Tom Spring

I'm a fan of live music and a patron of online communities such as eTree.org, where music junkies swap copyright-free music. So I was stung when I recently tried to download a live recording of a Dave Matthews concert only to discover that my BitTorrent client was dead in the water.

My guess is most people don't use Google's new Chrome Web browser as their primary browser yet. Google still has a long way to go with the browser adding features and fixing problems. Nevertheless, I've collected what I think are some of the most useful tips and the most interesting tweaks for the Chrome browser.

A quick taste of Google's new browser

Remember how much everyone loved to hate AOL at the turn of the century? AOL offered bloated software, piles of unwanted installation discs, a walled garden of content, an overloaded newbie network, and a pricey dial-up service.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' announcement of the next generation iPhone (which will hit Australia on 11 July) will be followed by a barrage of stylish and witty ads. And that those ads will be followed by an avalanche of snarky spoofs on YouTube.

Apple's Leopard may be changing its spots -- and soon. According to reports, Apple will release a beta version of Mac OS X 10.6 at next week at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco. Reports from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) claim Apple will release OS X 10.6 (Leopard) next week. It reports the update is not dramatic in regards to new features, but adds updates will center "strictly on stability and security."

The nonprofit One Laptop Per Child Project has shown the first images of its next-generation touch-screen laptop that goes by the name XO-2. According to Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC, the laptop is under development and has a goal of costing US$75. Negroponte showed off images of the XO-2 at an OLPC event here at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He says the first XO-2 is slated to be built by 2010.

Google Incorporated is arguably the most successful Internet company today. But Google didn't get to where it is without takings risks -- some of which have failed spectacularly.

Green sells, whether the product in question is a hybrid car or a laptop computer. Tech firms know this.

It's official. Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 is now being shipped to PC manufacturers and volume licensing customers. Existing XP Pro and Home users will have to wait until April 29 to be able to download the service pack directly from Microsoft Download Center or will have to configure their Windows Update to download SP3, according to Microsoft which posted the news at its software developers site TechNet.

The Google Web site--and many of the company's software programs--are loaded with gags, goofs, and Easter eggs that have helped Google maintain a fun-loving spirit in the cutthroat world of Web competition.