Internet Explorer 8 is final

The new version of Internet Explorer has just come out of beta and is a seriously huge step for a company like Microsoft. While it still has problems handling JavaScript (and thus, it doesn't pass the Acid3 web standards test), it has several end-user features that people will definitely like.

OK, maybe most of these features have already existed in the form of a Firefox extension (but some IE8 features were inspiration for some extensions as well) or just derived from several browsers outright (but then again, I'm not complaining about that), but it definitely lays some innovations in the table. And yes, those features just might be worth the traditional reboot after installation.

Web Slices

Just as Safari lets you select a part of a webpage to post into Mac OS X's widget environment, Internet Explorer 8 lets you get up to date on the several parts of a specific website. A fine example of what you can do with Web Slices is shown above.

Unfortunately, you'll have to install this add-on as it isn't built-in with the browser.

Accelerators

Although it's present in specialty browsers like Flock, Internet Explorer 8 gives the masses a more comprehensive list of shortcuts or "accelerators" to choose from. Let's say you don't know the meaning of the word "schadenfreude" and you see the word on a webpage. Double-click that word and several options will appear. It's either you blog it, find it on Wikipedia, etc. etc. etc..

Domain Highlighting

It sounds like a subtle cosmetic change, but it's a rather important security feature. Why? Because usually people don't get conscious of the URL when they could be accessing a fake site, I mean, you can know if a website is phishing you and stealing your information by just looking at the URL, but one will not do this always especially when the domain name isn't even noticeable. OK, Chrome users already know this, but since IE8 is a mainstream browser, it's all for the good.

Color-coded tabs

Complementing the domain highlights are the color-coded tabs. Basically, IE8 gives websites of the same domain the same color of tabs, so you can know whether that website you just accessed suddenly brought you to a fake version of it. In theory, that is.

Compatibility mode

Since Microsoft made Internet Explorer 8 a little more standards-compliant, there is bound to be a few issues involving old websites designed for older Internet Explorer versions. You can access this via a button beside the Refresh button. Just hope that you won't mistaken the two of them.

Individual tab management

While IE8 won't be able to let you rip tabs to form another window, you'll be able to have the benefit of a feature similar to Chrome. Let's say a tab froze up because of a plug-in like Adobe Reader or Flash. Usually, you'll have to press Ctrl+Alt+Del and terminate all important data in all the other tabs, well not anymore. You can just exit that tab and continue the work you've been doing in the other tabs.

InPrivate Browsing

Just like Safari's Private Browsing and Chrome's Incognito mode before it, Internet Explorer lets you surf like a rockstar without leaving evidence. Still, the parents have the upper hand if they are tech-savvy, because they can enable Parental Controls and simply disable this feature.

Cross-site scripting filters

Internet Explorer 8 promises to be the most secure browser in the planet, and the efforts show. With cross-site scripting filters ("cross-site scripting" involves one site sending err, messages to another one, hackers may use this system to put malicious code into genuine websites), Internet Explorer 8 finds out whether this is occurring and stops you from going inside the site.

Smart Search

Now when you type a search term, Internet Explorer gives you results as you type- and they're illustrated too!

Admittedly, I won't go back to Internet Explorer unless I'm desperate, but version 8 is very compelling nonetheless. Download it now.

de Blob (WII) review

de Blob

Nintendo Wii

Blue Tongue, THQ

Ever reminisce those times as a child when you'd actually get a crayon and start painting on the bland, white wall, and every time you did you would get reprimanded by your parents? Well, this game basically takes this child-like desire to color the world and put it in a video game, and infuses it with a political metaphor along the way.

So you start out as the titular Blob as you help the Color Revolution bring all life back to Chroma City, much to the anger of the colonizing INKT Corporation. You restore landmarks, ancient ruins, rivers, lands, and look at pretty pre-rendered, but smartly 'written' cutscenes in between.

Gameplay-wise, de Blob is extremely easy to pick up and play. The primary mechanic here is to put color back just by absorbing a specific color and touching a building to color it. Still, you're not exactly an unlimited coloring machine, as you have to observe the number of paint points you have. They operate similar to ammo, but these points also double as your HP or life points. 

You can get several styles to give a bit more personality to your establishments, and you are free to color the part of the town you want as long as the timer doesn't run out, which is pretty much the least of your concerns if you agree to the challenges presented to you by the members of the Color Revolution.

These challenges are generally easy, but one challenge type in particular which involves having to paint a select part of the town in specific colors is a bit limiting (and at times, frustrating). They manage to infuse some variety in the paint job, but they, in the end, lack just that as well-variety. To be honest, the lack of challenge types (there are only 4 if I'm not mistaken!) is the only major con in the whole game, but that won't stop you from actually getting addicted to coloring the entirety of Chroma City and killing every INKT soldier in sight.

Another con, albeit minor this time, is the fact that Blob can and will cling on to the walls of buildings every single time. This is frustrating if the path is narrow, but with a little bit of perseverance and luck, you can get out of that sticky situation.

The thing that the game definitely runs with is its artistic presentation (the effect that accompanies you painting a building never gets old) as well as its addictive, yet simplistic (and deceptively so) gameplay. If you have a Wii, de Blob is a title you may want to nab if you're into platformers. It may not be as magnificent as Super Mario Galaxy, but it's a potential third-party franchise I'd want a sequel for.

Rating: 8/10