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Movers & Shakers Nominations
Our iSchool alumni are leaders wherever they go. We know you’re moving and shaking, so get recognized!
Nomination deadline is November 10. The 2009 list will be published in the March 15 issue of
Library Journal.
Google Chrome Review
In the first of an occasional series reviewing new technology from an information science perspective, iSchool lecturer and 2008 Chisholm Lecturer Aaron Schmidt (walkingpaper.org) talks about trying Google’s new open-source web browser. (These reviews reflect the opinions of the reviewers and not necessarily those of the iSchool or the UW.)
In his non-iSchool life, Aaron is the Director of the North Plains Public Library, and a technology consultant for libraries.
The release of Google's Chrome browser came as a bit of a surprise. I hadn't heard anything going around the web rumor mill about it. What a disappointment! Not the browser mind you, but the fact that there was very little hype about it all. Waiting with anticipation for websites to launch or wading through pages of rumors about Apple's next device is half the fun of being a web geek.
Without much fanfare, I paged through the Scott McCloud drawn Google Chrome comic and looked forward to downloadng the browser. Despite a minor niggling reservation about contributing to the homogenization of information services, I've got most of my eggs in Google's tightly woven and integrated web-based basket. Google's intention, and my hope was that Chrome would make the weave on that basket even tighter.
Saddened to see that there was not yet an OS X version of Chrome, I booted Windows XP on my MacBook Pro and downloaded it. The first sites I visited were, naturally, Google properties. Chrome is optimized for Google's productivity applications and it shows. Gmail, Google Calendar and Reader all loaded quickly. Even non-Google sites seemed to scream along. Another talked-about feature of Chrome is its multiprocess architecture. This means that each of the browser's tabs run independently of each other. When using Chrome, if you visit a buggy webpage that messes up your browsing experience you won't have to force quit your entire browser to clear things up. You can just close the one tab. Considering I have to reboot Firefox every few days because of this very issue, a browser with a task manager could come in handy and save a little time.
After a little while of playing around I closed Chrome and XP and went back to my browser of choice, Firefox on OS X. I have yet to return to Chrome because I'm too invested in Firefox to be flip about my choice of browser. Perhaps by the time Chrome is released for OS X it will have more of a developer community behind it and will start to match the level of customization available with Firefox. With Firefox I can change its appearance making it blend in with my operating system. I can change the look of webpages, including Google applications, by using Greasemonkey. I can even use an extension called AdBlock Plus to block banner ads and Google's AdWords. I doubt this functionality is going to be encouraged by Google. These are relatively small changes, but since I'm spending more time using online applications, and spending more time in the browser in general (yikes), every little luxury counts. The benefits of Chrome's speed don't outweigh the fact that Firefox lets me be particular.
(These reviews reflect the opinions of the reviewers and not necessarily those of the iSchool or the UW.)
Trying something new you'd like to review for fellow alumni? Or is there a trend or software you'd like the iSchool community to comment on? Send us an
email!