WWWWII

There is a war on in the web-browser market. Some call it "Web War II". Others say it's "The Second Browser War". All we know it that it's really good for us.

I've spent some time getting to know most of the popular browsers out there, so lets start with the most well known browser in the world.

• Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer, or IE, is the browser that comes with every copy of Windows. It's ugly and cumbersome to use and has historically been slack on security to the point that in 2004 the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team [US-CERT] recommended users switch to a different browser. While Microsoft have become a lot more security conscience since, I honestly don't have anything good to say about this browser. Even the latest version seems to be a poorly implemented copy of feature sets from competing browsers.

• Firefox

Built by the Open Source community and the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox seems to be the current market leader. It's fast, stable and secure with hundreds of plugins, themes and add-ons available. It's usually the first thing I install on a computer.

• Google Chrome

There are a lot of great ideas being implemented into Google's Chrome minimalist browser. It's super fast and (apparently) built from the ground up for stability. However, it's very new and I found it to be lacking somewhat in the stability department. Knowing Google, it will probably be in beta for many years and undergo many improvements with constant updates. If for some reason you don't like Firefox, this is a great alternative for Windows users (currently there is no official Mac version of Chrome). As it matures, it will only get better. Google, after all, know a thing or two about how the Internet works. While using this browser, I really missed some of the toolbar add-ons and customizatioin options that I had in Firefox which brings me to...

• Safari

Safari is the browser you get pre-installed with every Apple computer. While Safari 3 works great on the Mac. It's fast, stable and secure. The Windows version however, was not really what I would call a great browser... or even a good browser. Like Chrome, Apple have taken a very minimalist approach in the design of their browser, so like Chrome I once again miss the toolbar add-ons and customization options that I had with Firefox. So even on the Mac, we ended up replacing Safari 3 with the OS X version of Firefox.

Safari 4 was released recently and since it's release I've been using it on both my Mac and my Windows machine. It's got the same minimalist approach but it's been redesigned almost in the image of Google Chrome, but with the sense of style that only Apple seem to have. It's still in beta so the Windows version is as stable as a straw house in a fairy tale. As to be expected, on the Mac, it's awesome. It has the three most important things. Speed, Stability and Security.

So while I love the way it does it's "inline spell checking" which is great when I'm blogging, I may very soon finish up my evaluation of Safari 4 beta on my Windows computer and go back to Firefox, at least until Safari 4 comes out of beta.

On the Mac, Safari 4 beta has been impressive. The top sites page and the ease at which you can find something in your history make it so you don't even need to set up your browser anymore. You just start using it and it sets itself up for you. There was only one thing we missed - a particular Firefox add-on that allowed us to monitor our download usage called "Internet Usage Meter".

Readers outside of Australia: Most Internet service plans in Australia have a limit on the amount of data you can download each month. Those that can secure a plan with unlimited downloads usually have to compromise the speed of their connection. Some plans even charge you for every MB you download over your quota.

Problem solved. For all those Mac users in Australia who subscribe to TPG Internet (yes, I'm talking to all 7 of you!) There is a Dashboard widget that can monitor your download usage. It's for TPG users only and it's called, unsurprisingly, TPG Usage Meter [TUM].

End of ramble.

Military training sim on sale now!

I got a newsletter from Codemasters today informing me that they have released a new video of their upcoming game "Operation Flashpoint 2" which gamers in our circle have been waiting for with much anticipation.

We've played the original Operation Flashpoint for years now, on and off. What made the game so attractive was the freedom it gave you inside its virtual world. The game is set in 1985 during the cold war and you play the part of a US soldier on a fictitious island when it comes under attack from Russian forces. You are thrust into several different situations from running for your life to spearheading massive assaults to supporting guerrilla freedom fighting forces formed from the original residents of the island. The storyline was fairly strong for a computer game and depending on your actions, successes or failures the game could have different endings. Playing from the first person view of a soldier, you have the freedom to more around and interact within a fantastically detailed 3D world with a multitude of weapons and vehicles. During the game you'd ride in or drive jeeps, truck, cars, helicopter gunships, motorbikes, gunboats, ultralight aircraft, fighter jets and anything else that you could find to climb into. And you could walk for hours. Weapons were much more realistic than most games with long range shots needing to lead moving targets and account for your shots falling over distance. It doesn't take long to notice the lack of health bars. There were basically two health settings. Uninjured and shot. If you were shot, you were usually dead. If in the unlikely event that you got shot and you weren't dead, then you would have serious problems. Depending on where you got shot, you would suddenly find that you couldn't shoot straight or you couldn't walk anymore. This made the game very intense both in single player mode and multi-player mode. Two official expansions were released for it allowing you to play as a Russian soldier on the opposing force side or as a freedom fighter against the invading Russians. The fan community also created a huge base of mods, add-ons and campaigns, sometimes changing the entire game, like updating everything from 1985 to modern and current spec weapons and vehicles. It's a great game. I like it. Still.

Anyway, Codemasters have been working on Operation Flashpoint 2 for quite a few years now. That doesn't mean OFP2 will be good. Microsoft worked on Vista for five years and its crap. A quick search on YouTube will find you the Operation Flashpoint 2 clip that Codemasters released. It looks pretty, but apparently it's pre-rendered. If you download the same clip as an mpeg version from their website, it looks prettier, but it's still pre-rendered. It's not an example of true gameplay graphics, although apparently they have used the actual game models.

But y'know what is interesting...

The Australian division of Bohemia Interactive Studios, Bohemia Interactive Australia thought the original Operation Flashpoint was so good that they could made a modified version of it and market it to the United States Marine Corp as a training simulator. It's called Virtual Battlespace or VBS and has been modified and developed over the last few years It has been improved and added to by the USMC, USARMY and the Australian Army. Virtual Battlespace 2 has just been released and now they are making both VBS1 and VBS2 available to the general public. Not only that, but huge amounts of the custom content created for the simulations by defence forces are being released as expansion packs.

This software is not considered gaming software. It is a hardcore simulation. However Bohemia Interactive know from the fan base that Operation Flashpoint created that this is software that gamers would like to "play". The Virtual Battlespace store is open and while it is more expensive than the average PC game, it's quite cheap for an authentic military simulator. At the time of writing, the VBS1 by itself would set you back AU$168.00. They have two VBS1 packages available. The VBS1 Special Offer and the VBS1 DVD Suite.

VBS1 Special Offer - AU$239.00

• Virtual Battlespace 1
• Terrain Pack 1
• Special Forces Pack 1
• Animal Pack 1
• Observer 3.0

VBS1 DVD Suite - AU$1,177.00

• Virtual Battlespace 1
• Terrain Pack 1
• Terrain Pack 2
• Terrain Pack 3
• USARMY Pack 1
• USMC Pack 1
• Australian Defence Force 1
• Australian Defence Force 2
• Special Forces Pack 1
• OPFOR Pack 1
• Animal Pack 1
• After Action Review 3
• Observer 3.0
• Instructor Interface
• Various bonus add-ons and maps from VBSresources.com

The new version, VBS2 will set you back a hefty AU$1,802.00, but wow, get a load of those screenshots!

Sah! Yes Sah!

A remarkable story of courage and willpower

I just read a story about a young boy from the desert who was born into slavery. He won his freedom and left his home before he was even a teenager to train to become a soldier. Then, during a civil war he was seriously burnt and lost both his legs in a battle. He couldn't breath without a breathing mask and respirator and his body had to be completely covered at all times because of the burns he had suffered. And yet, even with these disabilities, he went on to be the personal emissary to the Emperor, headed the Imperial Navy and lead thousands of men to victory in battle.

Get the full story here.

Big Nuke

Ever wondered how big an explosion a big Russian Cold War nuke would make?




Right, so who has stuff like this now?

Lebanon/Israeli War

In case you didn't know, go and catch up at ABC News Online or Google News. There is also a wiki entry for the conflict that is rather in-depth.

Some photos.

War sucks.