Web browsers: The Chrome wars

From TODAY, Tech
Friday September 5, 2008

REVIEW Google Chrome Beta
The newcomer pits itself against the giants, but how does it fare?

As you use the browser more, it’ll churn out a customised homepage with a list of your most visited websites and recent bookmarks, each time you launch a tab.

HEDIRMAN SUPIAN
hedirman@mediacorp.com.sg

How it scores
PROS
• Fast
• User-friendly interface
• Smart, predictive searching
• Learns from your usage
CONS
• Buggy
• Not compatible with some websites
• Flaky password management

THE next step in world domination for Google, it seems, is a brand new Web browser. Christened Chrome, it’s been in the pipeline for the past two years and is aimed at weaning us off the default ones preinstalled on our computers.

We spent some time with the open-source browser and our experience so far has been mixed. While it does provide much-needed improvements in security, stability and speed, the software is buggy.

Chrome initially refused to start after installation. Only when we uninstalled portions of our security software (with instructions from an online forum) did it manage to work — a daunting step for the masses who aren’t quite as tech-savvy. But to be fair, Chrome is still in beta.

Here’s how we think it measures up:

Stability
The first thing that catches your eye when you launch Chrome is its lean blue interface. It’s minimal and lets you focus on surfing the Web, rather than mucking around with a complicated set of settings or features.

Chrome has tabbed browsing, just like any modern browser like Internet Explorer 7 or Safari 3. But in Chrome, each tab is sandboxed. This means that it can run faster by tapping on its own resources.

If a single tab or website crashes, it won’t take the whole browser with it. You can simply close that rogue website and continue viewing the rest of your tabs.

Chrome also allows you to view the amount of system resources each tab takes up, killing the ones that run rampant with your resources.

But Chrome made our computer slow down to a crawl when we kept several tabs open for about an hour. Things went back to normal when we closed the browser.

Security
Chrome has access to an extensive and constantly updated list of websites linked to malware and phishing. If you visit such a site, the browser jumps in and blocks access to the site, displaying a warning that the site is malicious. We visited a suspected phishing site and true enough, Chrome did as it promised. The browser gives you an option to load the site if you’re sure that it’s not malicious.

If you’re using Chrome on a public computer or are viewing confidential or sensitive material online, you can launch an “incognito” window. With this privacy mode turned on, the browser will not remember the sites you visit and will not store information on any of your online activities.

However, we’re concerned that the browser can blatantly reveal your passwords to anyone if you set it to manage and save your the passwords to your websites. This could be an issue if there are multiple users using a single computer.

Search
When you install Chrome, it imports your bookmarks from Firefox or Internet Explorer and also the default search engine.

As you use the browser more, it’ll churn out a customised homepage with a list of your most visited websites and recent bookmarks, each time you launch a tab.

But Chrome’s main substance lies in its Omnibox (traditionally called an address bar). It indexes each site you visit and can auto-complete your Web addresses with a few keystrokes. It doubles as a search box too.

Suggestions from Google’s search index pop up as you type, offering you a list of the most visited and searched sites cultivated from the mass of online users.

In some cases, we just needed to type in two letters of a Web address to get to the site. If you previously visited a site that had a search feature, the Omnibox allows you to search through the site by entering the keywords into it instead of navigating to the site itself. Now, that’s nifty.

Speed
Under the hood, Chrome features a new JavaScript engine dubbed V8. In our tests, Web services from Google like Gmail, Reader or Calendar performed as fast, if not faster, than some of our desktop applications.

Performance isn’t confined to Google’s Web services; any Web application can benefit from the new engine. Even Facebook and Flickr were more responsive on Chrome. However, websites that were feature-dependent on Internet Explorer did not work. You can’t use the more fancy and newer features of Microsoft’s Hotmail, for instance.

We don’t recommend you depend on Chrome as your sole Web browser till the kinks are worked out and a more stable version is released. But we are impressed by the simplicity of its user interface and by the speedy performance of Web services and applications on the browser.

Chrome debuts on Windows first, with Linux and Mac versions in the pipeline.

www.google.com/chrome
Check out the Chrome browser for yourself

LOVE’S PRICELESS GIFTS

From TODAY, Voices
Friday September 5, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

I received a copy of a letter recently written by an 80-year-old grandmother to the members of her family. This is what this quiet lady named Mom Keltner wrote on that day.

She said: “I hate having to rely on my children to do things for me that I could for myself a few years ago. The truth of the matter is that our roles are reversed now and I am your child needing you in a special way. I need your patience now when I don’t hear what you say the first time; so please don’t be annoyed. I need your patience with my slowness and my set ways. I want you to be tolerant with what the years have done to me physically. And please, be understanding about my personal care habits. I really can’t see when my dress is dirty or the floor needs cleaning. To sum up, time, patience, and understanding are the priceless gifts that I ask for.”

Mom Keltner expressed so beautifully what many elderly people wish they could tell their children.

With just the right combination of love and acceptance, those important feelings and ideas might find expression.

Not rewards, but benefits

From TODAY, Voices
Thursday September 4, 2008

I SAY
The vital role full-time mothers play should not be underestimated

Sarah Sum-Campbell
news@newstoday.com.sg

I REFER to “Simply a matter of choice” (Sept 3), “Balancing job and Junior” (Sept 1) and “Hail the mothers who stay home” (Aug 29).

Regarding full-time mothers becoming childcare teachers, a childcare teacher’s job should be one that is highly-skilled, with the teacher having gone through many years of training. In Japan, for example, the younger the children, the more years of training teachers go through before having access to them. The rationale is that one should practically be able to throw a book at an undergraduate for the student to learn on his own, but to explain complicated concepts in the simplest and most concrete terms to a very young child takes much training. That accounts for one of the reasons many of my friends and I decided to teach our young children ourselves.

As for incentives for stay-at-home mothers (Sahms), highly-educated women who have chosen to give up jobs they excelled at and the financial perks which come with them should ponder their decisions carefully, as there is nothing in place to help them. I am not saying that Sahms should be rewarded. Rather, I am lamenting the unfair distribution of child benefits in preference of mothers who choose to work outside of their homes.

When I lived in Europe, I saw many friends there easily make the decision to take a couple of years off to look after their young children.

I know exactly what Ms Yeo Eng Wah means about women’s groups worrying that some Sahms might be left poor and helpless in their old age, or if something untoward happens to the family’s breadwinner. In Austria and France for example, subsidies for children are not means-tested — they are given equally to every child born there. This way, parents are free to use the substantial sum given to them every month for one of them to stay home to look after their child, or pay an institution to do so. That, to me, is fair distribution of what is after all, taxpayers’ money. Mothers in Austria are also given 18 years of free and high-quality healthcare from the time of their baby’s conception. This is so they are able to take care of their children.

And, like Ms Subana Hall wrote, there are mothers who “regret the decision to give up their careers, and resent their children for it”. That is a common phenomenon, just as there are many career women who feel guilty leaving their little ones in childcare centres or with their parents. When confronted with difficult choices, some would always wonder about the “what ifs”. Life is very much what we bring to it and what we perceive gives us the greatest meaning, joy or success.

My Sahm friends and I would never have been able to do so without very supportive and understanding spouses. We don’t just live with that; we bask in the sunshine of our time with our little ones.

The writer holds a postgraduate diploma in Child Studies from the School of Law at King’s College London. She has worked for many years in international schools, and at an international organisation in Vienna.

LEARNING TO SLOW DOWN

From TODAY, Voices
Thursday September 4, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

A prescription for renewed family life could begin with this simple phrase: “Slow it down”.

People work hard and play hard, and rarely have time to talk or even sit down and rest.

This kind of killing pace isn’t healthy for individuals or for family life. But the whole world seems to conspire against such reconstructive activities.

I can provide a simple prescription for a healthier, happier life, but it must be implemented by the whole family.

Firstly, add no new time-consuming activity of any type until you agree to remove one of equal dimensions.

Secondly, as a family, you must simply resolve to slow your pace.

Learn to say “no” gracefully; resist the temptation to chase after more pleasures, more hobbies, more social entanglements; “hold the line” with the tenacity of a defender in a professional football team.

If the commitment is deep enough, even the busiest of families can slow down and find a new measure of sanity and wholeness.

THOSE TRYING YEARS

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 3, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

How does a happy, cooperative 12-year-old boy or girl suddenly turn into a sullen, depressed 13-year-old?

There are two powerful forces that overwhelm our kids in the early pubescent years, and account for some of the strange behaviour that drives parents crazy.

The first is social in nature, with incredible pressures being inflicted on adolescents by their peers. The second, which I think is more important, is hormonal in nature.

Human chemistry apparently goes haywire for a few years, affecting the mind as well as the body. This internal upheaval will motivate a boy or girl to do things that make absolutely no sense to the adults. There’s a tendency for parents to despair during this period of transition. Everything they’ve tried to teach their sons and daughters seems to have misfired for a couple of years. Self-discipline, cleanliness, respect for authority, the work ethics, even common courtesy may look like lost causes.

But there is good news. Better days are coming. That’s why, perhaps the very best advice I can offer at this time is: Don’t look too quickly for the person your child will become.

DIVORCE doesn’t mean freedom

From TODAY, Voices
Tuesday September 2, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

Divorce often looks like the easy solution to a very unpleasant situation.

Many men and women struggle today to choose between the painful process of divorce versus the lure of escape.

The entire process reminds me of a documentary film made during the early days of motion pictures.

Near the top of the Eiffel Tower stood a would-be inventor with homemade wings strapped to his arms. This fellow was planning to fly. The old black-and-white film captures him as he paces back and forth looking over the edge and trying to work up the courage to jump. You could see the guy struggling: “Should I or should I not?” Finally, he let go of the beam and jumped. Of course, he fell like a rock.

Many depressed people are standing on that rail of divorce today wondering: “Should I or should I not?” Unfortunately, those who do jump usually find that their wings fail to deliver the lift that they expected. Instead, they are soon overwhelmed by the pain of custody battles, loneliness, bitterness and even poverty.

So much for freedom, which the song Bobby McGee defines as just another word for nothing.

BALANCING JOB AND JUNIOR

From TODAY, Voices
Monday September 1, 2008

I SAY
Staying home to look after your child doesn’t necessarily equal quality parenting

Subana Hall

I REFER to “Equality in marriage? It’s yin and yang” and “Hail the mothers who stay home” (Aug 29).

Although I am able to relate closely to Ms Chitra Rajaram’s experience of being a parent, I felt the other writer had a few common, but understandable, misconceptions about stay-at-home mums.

It is admirable for mums, just as it is for dads, to give their careers up to stay at home to be with their children. But staying at home does not make one a better parent.

I have met many full-time parents who regret the decision to give up their careers and resent their children for it. Some of them become frustrated with their lives and seek counselling.

Although giving up a career to care for your child is noble, a parent needs to know how to use his or her time well to make the sacrifice worthwhile.

Whether you are a full-time or a working parent, it’s more important that you build a strong bond with your child through love and constant encouragement. Some parents know exactly how to boost their child’s self-esteem and confidence, and that’s quality parenting.

To me, life has always been about balance, adjustment and choices. Your style of parenting is as much a personal choice as having children, regardless of the subsidies given by the Government.

I have made all decisions together with my husband.

The pace of Singaporean life definitely equipped me with the resilience to get on with things even under immense pressure.

Thus, when I moved to a foreign land, I coped as a first-time mum and professional, with the support of my husband, as well as my family back in Singapore. When we were having our first baby, I had a hectic work schedule as a TV news producer. Luckily, I did not have to return to work until my baby was six months old.

Not quite ready to switch careers, I worked unearthly hours at a breakfast programme. While I was at work, my husband could care for our baby.

As my baby got older, both my needs and hers changed, and my husband and I decided to rethink our direction in life. I consciously decided to switch careers, with a hope, like Ms Rajaram, that I would return to the newsroom one day when my children are older.

My husband and I, both working professionals, have built a bond with our children through lots of love, patience and positive reinforcement.

As a parent and now an educator, I have seen the benefits and shortcomings of full-time parenthood. I also know of the benefits of social interaction that a baby, even one who is six months old, gains from childcare and pre-schools.

And I know several full-time parents who enrol their toddlers — even those who are one year old — in play groups for a few hours just to get some time to themselves. After all, not all parents have the same support group and everyone needs some personal space.

I’m not judging anyone’s personal choices. Whichever kind of parent you are, one thing should be clear: Having a child should not mean self-sacrifice, because if you don’t put your needs into the equation, you may not be happy with the outcome of your decision.

Having a child means adjusting, and parenting is often more successful, meaningful and lasting when this adjustment comes from both parents.

The writer is the mother of two children, aged six and three. She is a full-time professional who has returned home after several years abroad.

TEACHING KIDS THAT FAILURE IS OKAY

From TODAY, Voices
Monday September 1, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

One of the best ways to show your children how to succeed may be to teach them how to fail.

It’s not news that youngsters mimic the behaviour of their parents. And since parents are being watched, they obviously need to be careful about what they say and do around their children. This is especially true when it comes to handling failure and disappointment.

Do we set ourselves up as models of perfection that never fall short of our goals? Or, can we say to our kids: “I’m sorry – I really blew it this time”?

If we fail to get something we really wanted – say, a new job – do we mask our feelings by offering phony excuses, or do we simply say: “Apparently, the bosses thought Mr Lim would be better suited for the job.” Our children must see that mum and dad can admit their failure and shortcomings, and that the world will not end because they have done so.

Some of the best moments in the relationship between parents and children can be when children see that their mum or dad did not get what they want and still feel alright about themselves and each other. It tells them that winning isn’t always normal or possible, and that even when you fail, life goes on. Teaching our kids to win and succeed is a noble thing. But teaching them to handle frustration and failure may be just as important.

LISTENING OR LECTURING?

From TODAY, Voices
Friday August 29, 2008

By Dr Bill Maier

“But, Dad! You never listen to me!”

Sounds familiar? If so, you probably have a teenager in the house.

Teenagers often complain that parents don’t listen – and sometimes they’re right! As parents, it’s easy to think we’re engaging in a conversation when we’re really just talking, or making a lot of assumptions about what our children are trying to tell us. But there’s a big difference between listening and lecturing.

When your teen wants to talk, turn off the television and put down the newspaper, then give them your full attention. Stay focused on what they’re saying and try to not interrupt.

Instead of rendering a quick opinion, ask questions and try to assimilate all the facts. It takes more time and energy to talk through an issue before making a decision, but our children deserve that much from us. And you may find that many of their requests aren’t as unreasonable as you might have first thought.

Hail the mothers who stay home

From TODAY, Voices
Friday August 29, 2008

I SAY
Such women are rare and should be recognised

Sarah Sum-Campbell

I REFER to “The ideal teacher” (Aug 27).

Ms Yeo Eng Wah is probably right that the stay-at-home mother (SAHM) probably has better insight into raising a pre-school child than a single woman. A SAHM understands a child’s concerns and can better empathise with mothers who have to leave their children in the care of someone else.

However, Ms Yeo’s proposals may not work. Ideally, the SAHM should not be one who believes in the existence of childcare centres. The SAHM chooses to spend her waking hours nurturing her own child because she does not believe in sending her child off to be cared for by another person.

All my SAHM (I prefer the term “go out with our children mothers” for this is what all of us do) friends and I quit our jobs to look after our children because we believe there is no one better qualified and more suited to care for our infant and pre-school children than ourselves.

Some of our reasons for doing so are:

We do not believe in the herd mentality. We believe that very young children thrive best at the bosom of their mother or father. Only a parent has that sort of stamina and love to breastfeed and to cradle their young unendingly.

We want our children to grow up emotionally secure, with their desire to learn unhampered, their imagination and hands free to explore. Their spirit of enquiry, and sense of wonder at nature and their surroundings, often begs affirmation and explanation.

We believe we are the best people to inculcate in our children the morals and social etiquette through our own example, and the way we relate to our friends and families.

All these are rites of passage in everyday life, marked with the deepest of individual convictions and beliefs. Many parents deposit their little ones into child care centres for all kinds of reasons.

They may feel that they are not up to the task of caring for a tiny one, or they may view time with little ones as wasted hours of inane play and mindless, repetitive chores. Perhaps it is financial, or they view their careers as much more rewarding than time spent with their own.

It is obvious through the recent updates of Government perks for encouraging births that SAHMs in Singapore should be designated a rare species.

All my “go out with our children mother” friends and I worked hard at our degrees, postgraduate or professional qualifications. We had jobs we were passionate about.

However we were aware that the day after we left our jobs, someone else could fill our shoes.

Not so with bringing up our own flesh and blood — no one can replace us, and the bonding we have with our little ones.

It is precisely because we know that the best interests of our little ones are best served by ourselves that we give up readily our careers, financial perks, and independence. Many of us have no full time help and no family members to give us time off.

The writer’s exhortation that SAHMs be retrained as childcare teachers could be viewed as flattering — those who are the least materialistic and make the most sacrifices for their families may be best suited to look after other people’s children.

But it also speaks of hypocrisy and double standards, as the SAHMs are ones who are cast aside, their work not given any thought by policy makers.

It is as if to say to the SAHMs — you will be given nothing by staying at home to look after your children. But if you would go look after someone else’s, you would be paid for the training.

Never mind that their work is probably valued only so that they could free up other women to do more “noble” and productive jobs out of their homes.

The writer is the mother of a 16-month-old daughter.

Email your views to news@newstoday.com.sg

Point of View

From TODAY, Voices
Friday August 29, 2008

Challenging moments in parenthood ... My boy is six years old. Earlier this week at his super-advanced kindergarten, he had an interesting Science lesson. Right now, he’s still thinking about it. Tonight he’s busy at home drawing a very elaborate diagram with his crayons. It has circles and tadpoles in it, as well as the letters “XX” and “XY”. He’s carefully labelling his diagram now. With words like “Daddy’s sperm”, “Mummy’s egg”; and “chromosomes”.

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blogged @ mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com

Green fingers in demand

From TODAY, News
Friday August 29, 2008

HORTICULTURE SECTOR

The ramping up of landscaping activities such as Marina’s Gardens by the Bay (picture) means more work than firms can handle. PHOTO COURTESY NPARKS

WELCOME TO MY LOPSIDED ABODE

From TODAY, World

Friday August 29, 2008

Passers-by looking at an upside-down house as it nears completion in Trassen-heide, north-eastern Germany, yesterday. The house will be open to visitors from next Thursday. AFP