First off, the interface is uber simple and clean-looking. In fact, deceptively simple, at least at first glance. There are actually a lot of things going on "under the hood". The first thing you'll notice when you crank Chrome up is the thumbnail bookmark gallery, which is automatically generated, based on your browsing history. In other words, the user interface itself is dynamic, belying it's apparent simplicity.

Comparing Chrome to IE, another thing becomes apparent after using it for some time - resource management. I haven't actually done any tests, but Chrome seems to hog up less resources. Even better is that each tab is a separately encapsulated process, meaning that if a particular page you're browsing bombs on you, the other tabs are not effected.

The one major pain I find with Internet Explorer is that because it's so deeply embedded within and around the Windows Operating System, any browser fault tends to effect the rest of the processes running on your machine. Not so with Chrome. I've been using it for the better part of the whole of the last week or so (since its release), and I find that it's very non-intrusive in as far as the OS is concerned.

Being something from Google, the address bar also acts as a Google Search input window, which is a nice thing, with the added feature of having predictive URL suggestions or related item capability, partly based on your browsing history. So for people like me whose memory can sometimes go into sieve mode, it makes calling up web pages much easier, without having to rely on your bookmarks all the time.

There are other features, too, which I won't elaborate here. You can learn all about them here.

So why did Google build a browser?

At Google, we spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And like all of you, in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends - all using a browser. People are spending an increasing amount of time online, and they're doing things never imagined when the web first appeared about 15 years ago.

Since we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if you started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.
(source: Google Chrome - Why we built a browser)

Chrome Beta promises to be a platform to power future web applications that "aren't even possible in today's browsers" - and somehow, I tend to believe what I'm hearing.

Now, any software product is bound to have kinks in it, particularly in the early stages of release.

There are certain websites that don't work very well with Chrome. At least not for the present. One of them is Photobucket, which I use as my image repository, both for this blog and my other blog, myAsylum. The problem I have is that it's not possible to upload pictures, and the source of this problem, I suspect, in how Chrome handles Java Scripts, which Photobucket uses for the various functions they offer. So, for uploading to Photobucket, at least for now, I still have to rely on IE.

I've also noticed the same thing with some of the Facebook applications that I've tried running on Chrome, which further reinforces my suspicion about the Java Script handling.

For the most part, however, my week-or-so long experience with Chrome has been more than satisfactory. For now, it's only available for use with Windows, but probably won't remain that way for long. Word is that development of Mac and Linux versions is ongoing.

Chrome works great with Blogger, by the way, although the alignment when you start a new post up can sometimes get a little screwy - not a big problem, though... just Reload the page, and things get back to looking like they.

If you're looking for a lean, mean, non-resource-hogging browser, I'd strongly recommend that you give Chrome a test-drive. My guess is that you'll like what you experience... the beauty and power of simplicity! 

What's a widget, anyway? Essentially, they are encapsulated applications that you can embed in your webpage or blog without the need to do any hardcore coding. In fact, the code is loaded during pageload, and what you have in terms of actual code you have to include on your site are essentially pointers to where in cyberspace the actual code resides, what executable is required (for example, Flash), etc.

There are countless widgets available on the Internet, from the useful (like the date/time application), to the most worthless and waste of bandwidth types - like the one below the Time/Date widget.

Where can you find widgets? For a start, check out this wiki devoted to widgets, called Widgipedia (of course, what else would you call it?). Then, there's Widgetbox, mentioned earlier, where I found the Time/Date widget.

Google and Yahoo! have their own collections, too, called Gadgets and Widgets, respectively. I've used the ones from Google before on myAsylum, but not the ones from Yahoo.

Beyond that, just do a websearch for the terms "gadgets" or "widgets"... the choices are endless, truth be told. But my advice is this: pick, choose, experiment, and change often. Widgets can be fun things to have on your blog, but they do slow down load times, so don't go overboard.

Blogger has also released a How-To video on YouTube, as part of its Blogger Help series.

Unless you're totally uncomfortable with doing anything with your layout, it's actually a cake-walk to implement. No messing around with coding whatsoever.

So, why am I still considering whether or not to use it on myAsylum? Well, for one thing, the blogrolls currently are hidden until you expand them - this is not something Blogger does as a standard, and is a custom tweak. I've not had time to see if this can be done with the new Blog List or not.

What might be a better thing to do is to feature a few blogs at a time, as feature blogs, and select the post-snippet function which the new widget supports, but which I did not enable.

Economy

1. Demand the implementation of social justice and equal distribution of wealth for all citizens, as provided for in the Federal Constitution
2. Demand the implementation of the redistribution of economic ownership to achieve the aim of abolishment and eradication of race based economic activity
3. Widen the Economic Jihad movement, based on two broad targets, firstly to develop a dynamic stimulus for and empower the Malay community until the objective of 65% [economic] control is achieved, and secondly to reconstruct the economic system so that it is fairer and more equitable.
4. To create strategies for increased participation of Malay corporate bodies, with the aim of being dominant in the national and international economies

Islam

1. Demand effective control over the construction of houses of worship for other religions based on the principal of need based on community size and location.
2. Reject the idea of religious pluralism, which is against the nation's Constitution.

Malay Language

1. Reject any efforts to create a multiligualistic policy in this country
2. Demand that Article 152 of the Constitution be maintained, pertaining to the Malay language as the national language of the Federation
3. Ensure the position of the Malay language as the primary language of knowledge building and encouraging translations into the Malay language, and abolishing the use of English as the medium of instruction in all institutes of higher learning
4. Demand that the policy of teaching and examinations of Science and Mathematics entirely in the Malay language be implemented
5. Encourage the use of Jawi script as one of the forms of writing the Malay language

Education

1. Empower the national-type education system as the core of the national education system
2. Insist on the increased usage of the national language in the National Education System as the communication and knowledge vehicle to achieve racial development
3. Ensure that the education delivery gap is eradicated nationwide
4. Insist that nationhood studies, based on the Rukun Negara, is taught at all levels of schooling and higher education
5. Ensure that all private educational systems give priority to nationalistic elements in their teaching and learning systems
6. Insist that oral Malay language tests at all levels of examinations are implemented

Culture

1. Insistance that the National Cultural Policy be the basis for our image, nationally and internationally
2. Application of Islamic values and national culture as the basis of profound and meaningful practices within the Malaysian society
3. Strongly reject any idea, underlying principle, and implementation of multiculturalism, using skewed interpretations of the Constitution

Should you have any corrections, or improvements to offer, please do so via the comments.

The only issue I have with this particular template is some of the spacing. Visually, it looks a little off. But no matter, these minor details can be tweaked later.

Another thing about this template is that the header image is configured via the Blog Elements GUI, which means that any change of layout later will cause the loss of this config. So, the image prepared for the new myAsylum look will only be put in after the template has been updated. Here's a preview:

Nice, no? I decided to retain the 4 ancients in the header graphic, for visual recognition continuity. Maybe one day they'll fade away... but for now, they remain. After all, they are the Committee!

And now, time to devote some human bandwidth to the April 1st prank... the kittified myAsylum... heh heh...

Depending on when you actually read this post, i.e. using which template, the Hello Kitty references may or may not make sense. This post was done while testing out the Hello Kitty template (it really is a cheezy template, but fits a specific purpose - which I won't devulge here).

In any case, the trials and tribulations suffered here will prove to be a good way to ensure that the main myAsylum template migration(s) can be done without much pain and suffering...

I'm also seriously considering reducing the number of AdSense ads, or at the very least relocating them on the page layout. One of the readers commented that myAsylum is too busy - and I tend to agree. Ad hoc changes over time do that to ya...

One layout I rather like is this one: Delectio (from eBlog Templates). I like the layout, but not so much the color scheme. I believe I will retain the dark aura of myAsylum. What I do like about it is the use of the top tabs, as a means to unclutter the main blog page(s).

The layout search continues...