A cheap new Google gadget called Chromecast brings the internet to your TV. But do you really want it there? Giles Turnbull reports
YOU know what Google Chrome is, don't you? It's a browser that sits on your computer or on your phone.
Now, it sits on your TV too. Or at least it will, if you cough up £25 or so to buy Google's latest gadget innovation, the Chromecast.
It looks like a slightly oversized USB stick. At one end there's an HDMI plug that goes into the back of your TV. At the other, a power socket. What it does is connect your TV set to the internet, and to other Chrome-capable devices in your home. It turns your TV into a giant browser window, capable of displaying and running anything that ordinary Chrome on your computer can.
If you have a YouTube video on your tablet, you can tap a button and it will start playing on the TV. If you use Chrome as your computer's browser, you can send web pages in the same way.
All very clever, but the question is: do you actually need it? Not for reading text - that's easier on a laptop or tablet. But for video and audio, yes.
In fact, they look and sound better on the TV, because that's what it was designed to do in the first place.
So you can spend hundreds of pounds on a so-called 'smart' TV that has its own built-in internet wizardry but the beauty of Chromecast is that it adds similar wizardry to any TV with the right socket, for a fraction of the cost.
The bad news is that you can't buy one in the UK just yet - keep an eye on the Chromecast website (www.google.com/chromecast) or on the Google Play store, for details of its arrival.
MAPPING THE NET
Can you make a map of the internet? Someone already has, and you can see the colourful results at www. internet-map.net.
Every blob you see is a website - the larger the blob, the larger and more popular the site. The biggest ones are the obvious ones, Facebook and Google and YouTube. But zoom in a bit closer (it works just like Google Maps) and you'll start to see lesser-known names there too. Is your favourite site on the map?
There's a search box to help you find out.
SKYDRIVE TO BE RENAMED
Microsoft's online file storage service
SkyDrive (www.skydrive.live.com) is going to have to be renamed following a court ruling that it infringed on the trademark owned by British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
SkyDrive is barely a year old but is going to have to be rebranded, at least in the UK and Europe, as a result. Thankfully the two companies have reached a sensible agreement which gives Microsoft a "reasonable period of time" for a sensible transition, rather than forcing them to switch everything off at short notice.
BROWSING AROUND ... USEFUL SUBREDDITS
? Pro tips for living - www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips
? How to do everything - www.reddit.com/r/howto/
? Today I learned - www.reddit.com/r/TodayI Learned ? Adventures in DIY - www.reddit.com/r/DIY
? Explain like I'm five years old - www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive
? I am a (something), ask me anything - www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/
THING OF THE WEEK
? Kemo the talking porcupine eats some fruit - www.tinyurl.com/ kemo-eats
? Giles Turnbull has a website at gilest.org.
? SKY'S THE LIMIT: Microsoft's SkyDrive is going to have to be renamed after a court ruling that it infringed on the trademark owned by BSkyB
? GET CONNECTED: The Google Chromecast turns your TV into a giant browser window, capable of displaying and running anything that ordinary Chrome on your computer can