The Google Drive or GDrive, is one of the most anticipated products that Google is rumoured to be developing. The GDrive would allow users to access their personal computer from any internet connection.  All your photos, music, word documents, power point presentations, software, emails would be stored  on Google’s servers. This would make the personal computer into a mere conduit for information, removing the need for much of the expensive hardware in today’s computers. There would be no need in buying expensive computers because everything that you want to do can be achieved online through Google’s servers. This would be really bad news for computer manufacturer as well as civil liberties.

The idea of a company having unparalleled access to its users’ information is galling to say the least. Once Google gets hold of the information it will be no time before government agencies, law enforcement  or the secret service are piling on the pressure for Google to release the information.

Google hasn’t confirmed the GDrive but are quoted in Guardian to saying:

‘There’s a clear direction … away from people thinking, ‘This is my PC, this is my hard drive,’ to ‘This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.’

Guardian

What makes netbooks so attractive, namely their price is one of their biggest weaknesses. Netbooks are much cheaper than traditional PCs but this involves sacrificing performance. As Michael Arrington in TechCrunch points out tetbooks have less RAM, less powerful CPUs and less memory -  typically 1GB. Using Windows XP on a netbook can be a slow and frustrating experience especially if multople applications are in use.

Jolicloud, a brand new Linux-based operating system designed especially for netbooks. Jolicloud has icon based navigation with large colourful icons, making reminiscent of an iPhone. It is indeed joli, meaning attractive in French It has been developed to make low end netbooks perform better and run faster.

Jolicloud is utilising an aggressive strategy. It will be available for download, once it has been installed it will completely replace the original operating system. Good OS and Cloud OS, other operating systems designed especially for netbooks are designed to work alongside the netbook’s original operating system.

Jolicloud has a much higher profile than the other two operating system as Netvibes founder Tariq Kim is behind the project. Crunchbase outlines his impressive career, highlights include:

‘He also became the first french (man) to receive the TR35 (Top 35 Young Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review) for a contribution related to the Internet.

‘In 2008, Tariq Krim was nominated a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.’

The beta version will be available for download in the coming months according to the Jolicloud.com. It is already working and has been demoed on an Asus Eee netbook. 

It’s a good time to invest, not in the pound but in companies that produce Obama memorabilia. The world’s favourite president has inspired a range of novelty items that are being snapped. If I were you I’d sell my stock in George W. Bush related merchandise, their value has dropped to an all time low.

Everyone’s been bandying round the recession bomb for the last year. But the UK wasn’t actually officially in recession. Officially a recession is two successive quarters of negative growth and today the inevitable has happened, the first since 1991. The announcement finally pours cold water on Gordon Brown’s 1999 pledge in his Pre-Budget Report that ‘Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past’. We’ve had the boom, now hold on tight, here comes the bust.

So what does this mean? Nothing really, we’re just now allowed to use the term recession in the sense it was intended. The same economic climate prevails now we just have a nice little semantic bow with which to tie it up. What is worrying though is that the UK economy contracted by a worse-than expected margin - 1.5%. This is despite the reduction of VAT, bank bailouts and the financial stimulus package.

Other nice little statistics to make you grab for the razor blades is that GDP has had the largest drop since the dark days of 1980. In 1980, Britain was still recovering from the winter of discontent when there were mass-strikes and PM James Callaghan almost bankrupted the country. The parallels between then and now are indeed worrying to say the least.

As they say misery loves company and the UK can join the US, Japan and Germany who are also in recession. This is unlikely to be an exclusive group and membership is sure to swell in the coming year.

As well as recession, fall in GDP, there is another little issue: the pound hit a new low of $1.35. For anyone who has been abroad in the last month, the pound’s weakness in comparison to other countries will be of no surprise.

But don’t get too down, this novelty humping dog should cheer you up.

The latest title in the Grand Theft Auto Series is Grand Theft Auto China Town Wars. The DS is technically weaker than the PSP so there are definitely compromises in terms of game play and graphics. Gone are the 3D animated cut scenes and the 3D rendered environments. The DS’ GTA offering is much closer to the original with the action seen from above. However the camera is slightly tipped and angled which gives some perspective and allows players to see further down the screen. As well as the perspective, the camera is not fixed and rotates dynamically to stay over the shoulder of the character or the vehicle as he’s driving.

And unlike the older games in the series where the view never really rotated out of its fixed overhead view, the camera in the Nintendo DS Version is much more dynamic and stays “over the shoulder” of you character or the vehicle he’s driving.

Like the PS3, Xbox and PC versions the city is still massive and sprawling. The limitations of the DS do not stop you from fully exploring the city. You can walk through buildings and get on higher ground through steps and fire escapes. Like the previous versions you can jack any vehicles you want from cars, trucks, lorries and motorbikes. Each vehicle has their own special characteristics as in the previous versions of the game.

There is a slight innovation when it comes to game play. As in previous versions of the game, the more stars you earn the more aggressively the cops will pursue you. In order to lose a star instead of hiding you have to take out a cop car. The amount of cops you have to dispatch is displayed in a car symbol underneath the star rating. This switches the ethos of the game making it much more frenetic and offensive. Other innovations include a speed-boost which is a reward for performing donuts. In combat mode there is a lock on system for your firearms, making it easier to dispatch your enemies .

The most exciting thing about the DS offering is that it explores a whole new aspect of the GTA world. By choosing China Town as the main focus of the action they can bring a whole new element to the game with new characters and fresh new plots.

IGN’s feedback on some of the missions is really positive. In one mission, One Shot One Kill you have to assemble a sniper rifle with your stylus then seek out your target in a crowd. You have one chance to take down your mark, if you miss, you fail the mission.

Although it is developed by Rock Star Games a Scottish games publisher it is unlikely it will be released in the UK on March 17th, the US release date. Whenever it is finally released it is sure to be a best seller.

IGN GTA China Town Wars Review

The Nintendo DS is so popular because it has attracted non-gamers to the take up gaming. You can’t exactly imagine your mum or dad enjoying Halo or Resident Evil but you could probably find a game on the DS that they might play. The success of Brain Training, Nintendogs and Cooking Mama shows that console gaming doesn’t have to follow the formula of shooting, fighting or racing. By creating innovative games and treating the DS more of a teaching aid than a console games publishers have created a whole new market for their games.

Avanquest’s Pass Your Driving Theory fits in the educational category of Nintendo DS games. It is a must for all those about to sit their theory tests. A theory test costs £30 and must be taken before a learner can even sit their practical exam. The game gives players invaluable practise before the exam and gives them the edge on passing the test. Not only could the game help a player pass their theory it would save them money and speed up the process of taking a driver test. If you fail your theory you have to reschedule, pay for another test and delay the whole process of qualifying to drive.

Pass Your Driving Theory is an essential interactive guide, it includes all 1265 official DSA questions for both cars and motorcycles along with explanations. It helps track a player’s improvement as past test scores are saved.

The game has been developed in partnership with LDC, one of the UK’s largest driving schools. LDC are offering a free driving test worth £26 to everyone who buys a copy of Pass Your Driving Theory.

Gaming Excellence

The problem with most bluetooth headsets is that they make everyone think they’re extras in Minority Report. The other problem is that they are often unobtrusive so it’s difficult to spot one on someone. This makes spotting crazy people more difficult. So if bluetooth is your thing, why not make a feature of your headset, instead of attaching some flashing cheap bit of plastic to your ear, treat your bluetooth like a piece of fine jewellery or an accessory.

Jawbone

The Jawbone is the Louis Vuitton of Bluetooth headsets. They manage to combine style with great features:

Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset

The Aliph Jawbone voice activity sensor identifies and isolates speech. Then it removes any background noise meaning you can speak normally in any environoment. The Aliph boosts frequencies that inccrease voice intelligibility.

Jawbone II Bluetooth Headset

The Jawbone 2 is 50% smaller than its predecessor and includes noise assassin technology ensuring as much ambient noise is cancelled out as possible. The Jawbone 2 has a faster processor for heavier signal processing. With its fast charge battery, it can charge 80& of it capacity in 30 minutes.

Sennheiser VMX 100 Office

The Sennheiser VMX 100 Office can be used at your desk, connecting to a landline or on the move through your mobile. This flexibility suits people who may work in an office but are also use their mobiles. As well as connecting to a landline the VMX 100 can connect to computer which allows Skype calls. It is lightweight weighing a mere 15g and with only one button and one volume control it is incredibly easy to use.

Finally there are some photos of the 10 inch Acer Aspire One netbook. Although this  had all the benchmarks of an unsubstantiated rumour the pictures prove that the 10 inch exist and is near to completion.

The features include a 1.6GHz N270 or N280 Atom CPU. RAM is expected to be set at 1GB. The 160GB hard drive should be preloaded with Windows XP. In terms of connectivity the Acer One will come with with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections

Everyone loves the DS, just ask Invisible Hand users. The Nintendo DS stock list is really popular. The reason for the DS’ popularity? Well for one it’s great fun what with its dual screen and stylus. Plus it’s got some great games and they’re keeping up the tradition with the release of Moto Racer DS in April 2009. Here’s an exclusive trailer from Gametrailers.com.

Moto Racer is the definitive motocycle racing game made famous on the PC, Gameboy, Playstation and finally the Nintendo DS. Single or multiplayer, you race in a variety of environments utilising the Nintendo DS stylus to control your rider. Experience four separate disciplines: Grand Prix (hairpin ends), Traffic (urban city scapes), Supercross (indoor circuits) and Freestyle (stunts).

Moto Racer DS utilises the DS’ internet capability, allowing you to challlnge your friends in multi-player contests and compare your score with the Online Worldwide Ranking system on the Moto Racer DS website.

In honour of her two Golden Globe wins, we decided to honour the English Rose with a round up of her top five films.

5. Titanic

Contentious, I know. But it was schmaltzy, unrealistic and I didn’t really like the end. If Rose wasn’t such a selfish cow she would have edged over a bit and let Jack share her plank of wood he wouldn’t have sunk to the icy depths. However you can argue with the 11 academy awards and its place as the highest grossing film of all time making $1.8billion.

4. Iris

Winslet played the role of Iris Murdoch the headstrong young Oxford undergraduate and her relationship with John Bayley. In this radiant performance, Winslet captures all the vibrancy and joie de vivre of the gifted young author.

3. Heavenly Creatures

Based on a true story, Beautiful Creatures depicts an intense female friendship that leads the pair of New Zealnd school girls into a world of fantasy and murder. Winslet perfectly captures the spirit of the haughty upper class Kiwi girl in a believable and sympathetic performance.

2. The Reader

The Reader is based on Bernard Schlink’s novel from a couple of years ago. Winslet plays a former Nazi prison camp guard, Hanna Schmitz who embarks on an affair with a 15 year old Michael Berg. Berg is reunited with Hanna ten year later as she is tried in a war crimes trial. In a complex performance, Winslet is able to envoke the culpability and the moral ambiguity of a post war nation.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This fast paces, surreal film is almost too confusing to describe. The film is chronicles the relationship between Winset’s Clementine Kruczynski and Jim Carey’s Joel Barish from their first meeting to bitter break up. The novel narrative frames the events through the mind of Carey as his memories of the relationship are erased by a specialist company set up to help people get rid of painful memories. Winslet plays a sparky, multi-coloured hair woman who speaks her mind and isn’t afraid of any one. The chemistry between the characters is believable and this is mainly down to Winslet’s performance. She creates a thoroughly believable, ultimately flawed and extremely attractive character in Clementine.