[Lvas] CNET Download.com: Travel through the universe
John Boron
jboron at cox.net
Tue May 13 21:39:10 PDT 2008
CNET | Download Dispatch, Windows EditionSubject: CNET Download.com: Travel through the universe
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Travel through the universe
Last night, Microsoft Research released WorldWide Telescope--new, free software that enables users to explore the universe with impressive content from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, and other famed ground- and space-based telescopes. Colorful nebulae, distant galaxies, black holes, and radiation clouds are all accessible from your desktop with a few clicks. The software has been released for free in honor of Jim Gray, a Microsoft researcher who was lost at sea last year.
Google Earth added a similar feature called Google Sky with its Version 4.2 release. Google also offers a browser-based version of Google Sky, while Microsoft requires the download and installation of the WorldWide Telescope software. Google Sky is a bit more user friendly right now, but Microsoft has the advantage of a wealth of content. For example, Google Sky offers infrared, microwave, and historical views of objects in the universe; WorldWide Telescope allows nearly 50 different types of viewing, including infrared dust maps and cosmic microwave background, along with a bevy of other options that I couldn't even begin to explain.
Google Sky has the advantage of being quite a bit easier to pick up and use immediately, but in actuality, WorldWide Telescope is a totally different beast. Google Sky is a bonus feature that Google added onto its Earth-imagery application; WorldWide Telescope's primary objective is to create a visual representation of the universe on your desktop. You can peruse telescope images of Earth with WorldWide Telescope, but there's not the detailed satellite imagery of your neighborhood that you get in Google Earth...
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Peter Butler
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CNET Download.com New releases
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GuerrillaBrowser 1.5
License: Free to try; $7.95 to buy
File size: 341.85K
Minimum requirements:Windows 98/Me/XP/Vista
Category: Web Browsers
Now here's a browser with a real twist. Rather than make surfing easier, GuerrillaBrowser makes it more difficult, with tools designed to give you total control over your interaction with Web servers. Although you might be safer from malicious scripts, you'll also likely need to walk through the tutorial before browsing.
Read the review
Video Software
CyberLink PowerDVD 8
License: Free to try; $69.95 to buy
File size: 127.41MB
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista
Category: Video Players
Ease of use, top-notch performance, and an outstanding feature set help this nifty video player earn a five-star rating. Enhance videos, play Blu-ray Discs, set unique parental controls for each child, and even move subtitles around.
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Business Software
eBay Desktop 1.0.4.32
License: Free
File size: 6.89MB
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista, Adobe AIR 3.0
Category: Auction Tools
This official free desktop download from eBay requires Adobe AIR to run and you'll need an existing eBay account to use it, but once you've got the client up and running you might never need to visit the Web site again. Buy, sell, browse, and manage your products, all from a sprightly, clutter-free interface.
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The week in Webware
Google blurs faces in Street View
Remember the brouhaha last summer when Google Maps users realized that the new Street View feature included people exiting strip clubs and cats sleeping on windowsills? Nearly a year later, Google has responded by blurring faces in its photographs. Stephen Shankland examines the privacy issues surrounding Google Street View.
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We're well into the year by now, and we've seen some amazing new software releases already. These five downloads, however, are not among them. In fact, they're the worst of the worst that we've seen so far on Download.com. Watch Tom Merritt count down the latest entries to the Download Hall of Shame.
Watch the video
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